Willoughby rider claims seventh

Published:08:46Friday 16 September 2011

WILLOUGHBY superbike rider Peter Hickman claimed a seventh place finish in the first race at Donington Park on Sunday, but was forced out of race two with a throttle problem in round 10 of the MCE British superbike championship.

Qualifying went extremely well for the Lincolnshire ace, who took the Tyco Honda Fireblade through to a front row start in fourth place, being the highest placed Honda rider ahead of the two factory backed HM Plant Hondas - his lap time just half a second away from that of Tommy Hill on pole position.

As the race got underway, Hicky was swallowed up in the pack as they made the dash to Redgate for the first time, but he soon recovered and settled into fifth place, which he held until the midway stage of the 20-lap race.

He then fell into the clutches of Josh Brookes, who made a harsh move on Hickman at Redgate, demoting the Tyco Honda rider down to seventh, where he remained to the chequered flag.

Hicky began race two from the second row, and was looking to improve on his first outing, but a first corner collision between Byrne and Laverty caused Hicky to take avoiding action and he ended up completing the first lap down in ninth position.

He began to pick off the riders ahead, and was through to seventh place and homing in on Kiyonari who was only 1.2 seconds ahead, when he encountered a clutch problem which caused him to enter the pits to retire.

The nine points earned from the first race put Hicky up to eighth in the rider standings.

The top six riders have now gone forward into the showdown and cannot be caught, but Hicky’s aim is to end the season in seventh place.

Jon Kirkham holds that position with a 35 point advantage over Hicky after scoring 27 points at Donington, but there are five races and 125 points still available, so it is not an impossible task.

The next round will take place at Silverstone on the weekend of September 23-25, when Hicky will be aiming to complete the two races ahead of Kirkham in an effort to gain ground towards seventh place.

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Pictured in action is Willoughby’s Peter Hickman, who suffered second-race disappointment at Donington Park, but still hopes to claim seventh place in the British superbike championships.